For centuries South American mother’s have warned their children about straying too close to the many lakes and rivers which canvas their vast, jungle ridden continent for fear that their offspring may become the next victim of the dreaded sting ray-like animal known as the Hueke Hueku’.
This razor clawed, voraciously hungry, phantasmagoric beast is also referred to as “The Leather.” The origin of this name comes from local natives who claim that when the Hueke-Hueke’ floats on the surface of the water its epidermis appears to be that of stretched animal skin. This comparison has encouraged some investigators to associate this phenomenon with that of another extremely dangerous South American cryptid, the El Cuero.
The El Cuero is a ferocious and renowned carnivore, which natives often refer to as “The cow-hide.” The comparisons which researchers have made between these two appellations is obvious. Both of these animals supposedly sport a pair of razor-sharp claws on its extremities, but reports of the Hueke Hueku’ rarely include the proboscis, for which the El Cuero is famed.
Some investigators have suggested that these animals might be a species of freshwater stingray from the family Potamotrygonidae – which is commonly referred to as the River Stingrays and is found throughout the Amazon – that over the years has developed self defense mechanisms (claws) not ordinarily found in the wild.